The present invention generally relates to shipping and dispensing packages, particularly to shipping and dispensing packages for bowls, more particularly to shipping and dispensing packages for bowls containing non-perishable food, and specifically to shipping and dispensing packages for bowls containing ready-to-eat cereal, savory/sweet snacks, or the like.
For a variety of reasons, people often eat breakfast on the run. Specifically, one or more food items are often purchased at a convenience store and then eaten away from home such as at an office. Often the food items purchased are donuts, rolls, candy bars, and the like which are not very healthy or nutritious. Although ready-to-eat cereal is a staple of most breakfasts eaten at home, ready-to-eat cereal is typically not consumed outside of a home or a dining establishment such as a restaurant or cafeteria. This is because prior to the present invention, ready-to-eat cereal was not marketed in a manner to be conducive to be eaten on the run. Specifically, although ready-to-eat cereals such as FINGOS brand cereal marketed by General Mills, Inc. exist which are specifically formulated to be eaten with the fingers, most ready-to-eat cereal is conventionally eaten with milk. Although single-serve packages of cereal exist, the cereal conventionally is poured from the package into a bowl for receiving the milk, and bowls may not be readily available when eating on the run. Further, food typically eaten on the run is often an impulse purchase and is placed by convenience stores closely adjacent the check-out counter and/or refrigerated coolers including milk, juice, soda, and the like. Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal is, however, placed in the store at locations which are not as conducive to impulse purchasing to be eaten on the run. Thus, ready-to-eat cereal has not played a major role in the eat-on-the-run food market even though it plays a very important role in conventional dining and is much more nutritious and healthy than typical eat-on-the-run food.
Thus, a need exists for packaging of ready-to-eat cereal which lends itself to be utilized in eat-on-the-run environments. Specifically, such packaging should be in the form of a bowl-type container to allow milk to be simply added thereto with the cereal already present therein. Such packaging should also lend itself for commercialization by convenience stores. Particularly, preferably the packaging should be utilized for containing, shipping, and storing the individual servings of ready-to-eat cereal and also for dispensing the individual servings of ready-to-eat cereal at the store to the consumer. Further, such packaging should be disposable to reduce handling. Likewise, such packaging should be readily mounted and removed at locations which are conducive to impulse purchasing and preferably to vertical walls or surfaces so that valuable shelf space is not required. In particular, placement on or closely adjacent to refrigerated coolers including milk is especially desirable.